Painted Tickle Monsters
by Rosesdancinginmymind
Summary: Can you do one where Regina is 3 and Cora is playing with her with paints and gets Regina excited about painting her hands & feet to do hand prints and footprints on paper outside but when it comes to Cora painting Regina's feet Regina is really ticklish and can't stay still – Guest


_Can you do one where Regina is 3 and Cora is playing with her with paints and gets Regina excited about painting her hands & feet to do hand prints and footprints on paper outside but when it comes to Cora painting Regina's feet Regina is really ticklish and can't stay still – Guest_

_Thank you so much for the prompt and I hope you like it :) _

Cora smiles as she hears footsteps scampering down the hallway. That noise echoing through the castle means one thing – Regina is up from her nap. Upon hearing her coming closer Cora hides behind the door. Regina bursts in and suddenly stops looking around confusedly. The three year old spins, "Mommy?" she asks.

"RAWR!" Cora shouts as she jumps out from behind the door and pulls her little girl in for a hug before giving her a kiss on the cheek. Regina shrieks and squeals before laughing as she turns in her mother's hug. "Monster Mommy!" she shouts as she pokes her mother on the nose.

"A monster Mommy for a monster Regina," Cora says and Regina gives her a shocked look, "I is not a monster," she replies as indignantly as a toddler can. Cora smiles ruffling her daughter's hair, "Of course not my little princess. No what shall we do this afternoon?"

Regina pauses and thinks for a moment before deciding "Painting." Cora chuckles knowing her daughter loves painting, well more she loves making a mess with all the different brushes and colours. Still it makes her daughter happy and that's what matters most to Cora. She never knew life could be like this. She had only ever wanted power but having had her heart back for nearly four years now she knows life is about so much more. Cora cares little for political affairs these days, instead enjoying being a mother to her lovely and funny little girl.

She spreads out some paper and paints over the chamber floor before lying down and watching as Regina begins dipping into various colours and spreading them over the paper. As usual paint gets over the floor but it can be cleaned later. Cora doesn't mind the small globs of colour over her chamber floor too much though because they're evidence that her daughter had had a fun afternoon and that she was able to be the kind of mother she always wished she had had growing up.

"Mommy," Regina says after a few minutes, "Can you draw round my hand?"

Cora nods picking up a small paintbrush and drawing around her child's little hand. Regina giggles as moves the paintbrush before lifting up her hand. "My hand!" she shouts happily. This is one of her favourite things for her mother to do and suddenly Cora is struck by an idea.

"Regina," she begins, "How would you like to go paint outside?"

"Outside?" Regina asks excitedly. Cora nods thinking that what she has planned could get very messy indeed and that outdoors would probably be best. "What can we paint outside?" Regina asks confusedly.

"Well we can paint your hands and feet and you can do hand and footprints all over the paper and garden," Cora suggests. As she speaks her daughter's eyes light up at the prospect of both being painted and getting to do footprints all over the paper. "Yes! Yes! Yes! Mommy come on!" Regina shouts enthusiastically before running out to the garden. Cora chuckles as she picks up the paint supplies and another load of paper to cover enough of the grass.

Cora sets the paper down outside as Regina bounces up and down excitedly. She's already tossed off her socks and shoes so she can have her feet painted. Cora can tell already that this is definitely going to be a colourful mess. "Hands or feet first?" she asks.

"Uhm hands," Regina replies holding out her hands for her mother to paint, "This one red and this one green."

Cora complies before letting her daughter do several handprints over the bits of paper spread around. Cora picks one up with a small smile. She remembers how they did this when Regina was first born. She can remember how tiny her daughter's hands and feet were at birth and how Regina squirmed and squealed when they first tried to get the memento. Eventually once they had calmed their ticklish daughter they did get a set of handprints and footprints made up. They now hang with pride on Cora's chamber wall.

_She's getting so big_ Cora marvels as she looks at the handprint of her three year old before setting that one aside to keep. She looks down to see Regina jumping on her hands and feet so she can make patterns and marks with her hands all over the paper.

"Look Mommy!" she shouts happily and Cora grins, "They're beautiful princess. Shall we do your feet?"

Regina nods eagerly sitting down on a spare bit of paper before wiggling her feet with an excited grin. Cora dips the brush into the blue paint and dabs a bit on her daughter's left foot. As she does Regina jerks her foot with a chuckle. "Mommy that tickles!"

"I know. Try to stay still though," Cora says before moving to paint again. She manages one stroke of the brush before Regina is giggling and kicking her foot again. "Stay still," she repeats as she bites back a laugh at Regina's ticklishness. She swipes the brush over Regina's foot and the little girl yelps and kicks her foot around wildly. "It's too tickly Mama," she says with a laugh.

"Uh-oh," Cora says dramatically before moving to paint again.

"Mama!" Regina shrieks as she falls onto her back and laughs as her mother begins to use the paintbrush to tickle her little feet. Regina rolls around kicking and giggling as Cora dabs the brush at her feet. The toddler laughs and laughs before suddenly jumping up and launching herself at her mother. Cora shrieks as she falls back and painted hands begin tickling her.

"Oh no Regina," Cora gasps and her little girl looks up, "What?"

"You've unleashed the tickle monster!" Cora shouts and Regina gasps, "Not the tickle monster," she says before taking off in a run with a joyful laugh. Cora laughs as well as she chases after her young daughter. She looks down seeing paint smeared all over her dress but shakes it off. A few years ago she would have hated it and felt like paint on a dress was the end of everything. Today she doesn't care. Today she dips her hand into the paint pot before catching up to her daughter. She picks up the little girl with ease before tickling her with painted fingers.

Regina squeals happily as the pair tickle each other. She jumps up and down on the grass looking at her mother's dress and her own, "Mommy we painted tickle monsters."

Cora chuckles. Without her heart all she wanted was to be a princess. She became one and then got her heart back and realised there was so much more to be. Right now a painted tickle monster is all she wants to be.

_Thanks for reading :) _


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